Real estate executives flood Adams’ 2025 reelection account. Here's who contributed.

NEW YORK — Real estate executives poured money into New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ early fundraising push to dominate potential challengers when he is up for reelection in three years.

The well-heeled donors joined the ranks of Republican Party bankrollers in supporting Adams, a moderate Democrat who appeals to conservative types with his tough-on-crime messaging, pro-business bent and rhetorical support for charter schools.

Of the $850,077 the new mayor raised during his first six months in office — more than half of it from outside the city he governs — at least $156,000 stemmed from people working in the real estate industry, according to a review of public campaign records released Friday evening. The total haul might be higher, as some donors do not disclose their employers.

Development executives who fueled the mayor’s 2025 campaign include David Azar of real estate investment firm Triangle Capital Group; Michael Barry of Ironstate Development LLC, which has projects in New York and New Jersey; and James Whelan, president of the Real Estate Board of New York.

Florida-based Stephen Green of SL Green Properties — the firm behind the One Vanderbilt skyscraper, where Adams announced his bid to host the 2024 Democratic presidential nominating convention — also donated.

Adams tweeted about the expansive view from the summit of the tower last year, signaling to New Yorkers who decamped to the Sunshine State: “Moving on up. Check out the view from SUMMIT, One Vanderbilt’s incredible new observation deck in the heart of NYC! (You definitely won’t find this in Florida.)”

Many of Adams’ real estate donors gave him $2,000 — $100 shy of the maximum amount he’s allowed to receive from a single donor if he partakes in the city’s matching funds program. Some with business before his administration gave $400, in adherence to a lower limit for those interacting with City Hall.

A few exceeded the maximum donation, such as Azar, who cut checks for $4,000 in late April. A campaign spokesperson said the excess money is in the process of being refunded.

Real estate honchos are steady financial supporters of most New York City mayors, whose city agencies often control the fates of their projects. Municipal departments issue construction permits, fund affordable housing projects and decide whether changes in land use can go forward.

As mayor, Adams has articulated a belief in expanding residential development across the city, though his housing plan was light on details about how he will achieve that.

Others who gave to Adams include a New Orleans City councilmember; two employees of the financial media firm run by former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an Adams ally; and eight employees of Mar-Can Transportation, a school bus company based out of Mount Vernon, N.Y.

“This filing shows strong support for Mayor Adams and his plans for the city,” Adams’ campaign lawyer Vito Pitta said in a prepared statement.

Among the donors who want to do business in New York City are Hard Rock executives, whose company is reportedly angling to open a casino in the city. They were recently criticized for “pay to play” following a leaked email pushing donations to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s campaign while bidding on a casino license.

Also reportedly interested in opening a city casino is hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen, who did not give to Adams’ 2025 campaign account, but spent heavily on a super PAC that helped him win election last year.

Cohen is one of three businessmen who donated a combined $3.25 million to the $7 million Strong Leadership NYC PAC last year and have a history of writing large checks to the Republican Party. The backers — who have also given to Democrats — include hedge fund billionaires Dan Loeb and Ken Griffin, some of the GOP’s most lucrative supporters.

While Adams has no control over who donates to supportive PACs, given a rule preventing communication between political candidates and outside expenditures, he did take money from some of the same people for his transition and inauguration committee.

After Adams won the election, Loeb and his wife, Margaret, each donated the maximum $5,100 to the committee, though their contributions were later returned when Adams canceled his inauguration party due to a Covid wave. Cohen and his wife, Alexandra, also had their maxed-out inauguration committee donations refunded.

Representatives for Cohen, Griffin and Loeb declined to comment.

Despite their Democratic donations, the three have continued backing the Republican Party following the 2016 election of Donald Trump, whose U.S. Supreme Court appointees recently delivered two rulings on guns and abortion rights that Adams publicly excoriated.

“This is about who decides, who rules, who has power, and who's deprived of it. And right now the American people are being deprived of their fundamental power to choose one's destiny,” Adams said at a rally on the steps of City Hall, hours after the court handed down a ruling that would overturn that landmark Roe v. Wade case last month.

“Whether they are allowing dangerous people to buy and carry deadly weapons or banning women [from] making their own health decisions, the far right, enabled by this court, has declared war on the American people.”

Georgia Rosenberg contributed to this report.